


Dance

by Faylinn_Night



Series: Heleus Horizon [3]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: AU, Angaran, Attempt at Humor, Complicated Relationships, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Self-Esteem Issues, Sister-Sister Relationship, Support, Turian, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-16 23:10:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10581426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faylinn_Night/pseuds/Faylinn_Night
Summary: Riti growled.  She glanced at Kandros’ backside then stood and slipped an arm under her sister’s.  “You’re killing me, man,” she said in an undertone.“Huh?”“This dance has been going on long enough.”“Uh,” Mira tensed her arm, yet knew better than to pull away as the sisters neared the tram, “what dance?”Riti side-glanced and Mira’s blue-green eyes narrowed.----------------------------------------------------Ritika gives Madeira a pep talk about Kandros on the tram, whether she wants one or not. [Slight AU with sister Ryders]





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is for my other best friend, a (late) present for her birthday ~ <3
> 
> We have an AU where the Ryder siblings are triplet girls, none of which are in a coma...this takes place in that universe. My Ryder is Ritika while Madeira and Rashmi are my best friends'. ^ u^

Ritika was tired, but not for the reason most would assume.  Reports?  Outposts?  Tann?  Please.  She could deal with those issues, easy; just hand it all over to Rashmi.  No, what drove her crazy was Madeira and Kandros.  The Pathfinder sat on a bench outside the Nexus’ Militia Office, studying her purple-painted nails to hide the fact that, surprise, she was listening to her sister flirt. 

‘ _I’ll only be a second, Riti,_ ’ she thought.  ‘ _I just want to check in on the Strike Teams.  My ass._ ’

“See you later, Kandros!”  Mira’s voice caught Riti’s attention before her waves of pastel pink hair.  “Try not to break too many hearts while I’m gone, yeah?”

Ritika blanched when her sister winked and approached the bench.

“Something wrong?” Mira asked.

“I’ve been sitting here for almost an hour,” Riti said, unmoving.

“So?  You could’ve left.”

“Forgive me for holding onto some hope.”

“Hope of what?”

“Hope that you’d actually—“  Riti growled.  She glanced at Kandros’ backside then stood and slipped an arm under her sister’s.  “You’re killing me, man,” she said in an undertone.

“Huh?”

“This dance has been going on long enough.”

“Uh,” Mira tensed her arm, yet knew better than to pull away as the sisters neared the tram, “what dance?”

Riti side-glanced and Mira’s blue-green eyes narrowed.

“You’ve got to be kidding, Rit.”

“No more excuses.”

“They’re _not_ excuses.”

“Bullshit.”  Ritika pushed her sister onto the tram then chose a location via her Omni-Tool.  It didn’t matter where they went, so long as they had privacy along the way.  “Mira—“

“No.”  Madeira glared and cross her arms, but Riti had seen Salarians look scarier.  To her, anyway.

“These are the only kinds of fights you avoid,” continued Riti.

“These are the only kinds if fights I can’t win.”

“You honestly believe that?”

Mira shrugged, taking a seat and glancing outside the obscured window.  She looked flippant—like usual—although Riti could hear her sister’s increased breathing through the hums that vibrated the tram.

“It’s okay to let Kandros know you legitimately like him,” she said, gentle.

The pink-haired Ryder snorted.  “We’re just—“

“As if.  I’ve known you and Rash for twenty-five years.  Reading your emotions is like talking with an Elcor.”

Mira glanced at Riti long enough to quirk an eyebrow before returning to the window.  “He wouldn’t be interested,” she said, “not in the real me.”

“I hate it when you say things like that.”

“It’s the truth.”

“So you’d rather waste time dancing around the idea?”

“What does it matter?”

“It hurts you!”  A wet heat stung Ritika’s eyes, and she sniffled when Madeira met her gaze with a wounded look.

“Don’t cry, you baby,” Mira teased.

“I’m not!” countered Riti.  “Maybe I want to.  But whatever.  If it would make you listen better, I’d gladly cry.”

“What dumb logic.”

“I cried on Omega.  You listened then.”

Like a lit firecracker, Mira’s stony stare turned heated.  “That was different.”

“How?”

“Let’s see.  I was already primed from covering your ass.  Remember the whole ‘if you want to live this life, you won’t do it alone’ thing?  Yeah, that worked out well.”

“It did; I stalled you from taking Spice long enough for Rash to find us.”  Yeah, Riti knew that wasn’t the point her sister had meant, and Mira’s scowl said so.

“I told you that you were too good for Omega,” Mira whispered.

Riti swallowed a dry lump in her throat.  “Well, we aren’t talking about mistakes—not yours or…mine.  You’re a wonderful person, Mira.  Passionate.  Loyal.  Any guy would find that attractive if you just—“

“Open up?  Like you did with Tamir?”

The tram felt frigid.  Or maybe that was just Ritika.  She shivered, yet remained grounded as Madeira groaned, sighed, and then rubbed her tan face.

“I’m sorry, Riti.  It’s just—do you remember _why_ I ran to Omega?”  The pink-haired Ryder scoffed into her hands.  “Our own father couldn’t stand me.  Why would Kandros?”

“Kandros isn’t Dad; your Turian has an actual sense of humor.  Besides”—Riti managed a smile—“I’ve seen the guy look at you.  Really, look at you.  I think he’s starting to see what Rash and I see whenever we look at you.”

“An alcoholic loser?  A mistake?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“If you don’t know, I won’t say.  I’d rather Kandros make you realize it.”

“My God.”  Mira slumped in her seat, head shaking but with a smirk.  “You’re relentless, you know that?”

“I learned from the best.”

“I’d tell Rashmi to stuff it where the sun doesn't shine, too.”

“Aw, come on.”  The tram slowed to a halt as Ritika pulled her sister up by the hand.  She tightened her grip, doors hissing open behind her, and kept her voice low.  “A dance can’t last forever.”

“Wanna bet?”

“A night’s worth of Dutch’s mystery drinks says it can’t.”

“A—are you challenging me to drink off?”

“If I win, you have to do what I did with Jaal.  Just walk up to Kandros and be like ‘so’ all smooth like and just…let things go.”

“That—that seriously was your opening line?  So?”

“I’m honest, not graceful.  Now, do we have a deal?”

Madeira smirked.  “It’s your funeral.”

It was.  But that wouldn’t stop Ritika from trying.


End file.
